The Defanging of Aslan

Prince Caspian: Vague Faith and Eye Candy in Narnia

In the film’s trailer, a dwarf sums up what to expect from
the new Narnia movie, which was scheduled to open May 16.

“You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember,”
warns the dwarf Trumpkin in a trailer-ready line from this weekend’s new family
adventure, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (see review, page B3).

Adapted by Walden/Disney from the second volume of C.S.
Lewis’s beloved Narnia stories, Prince Caspian is the sequel to the 2005
blockbuster The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Ostensibly addressed to the returning protagonists from the
first film, Trumpkin’s warning is also intended to alert viewers to expect a
darker, more action-oriented movie than the original. (Both films are rated
PG.) Meanwhile, Lewis fans — many of whom had mixed feelings about the first
film — wonder how the new big-screen Narnia squares with what they remember
from the book.

Speaking with the Register by phone from New York, Producer
Douglas Gresham, Lewis’s stepson and heir, discussed and defended the
differences between the first film and the sequel — and between the book and
the film.

Lewis “would understand and appreciate the changes we made
and understand why we made them,” said Gresham, who calls Lewis “Jack.” “If I
thought there was something there that Jack would disapprove of, I would try to
stop it altogether.”

Changes? Unlike presidential candidates, the films’
producer, Mark Johnson, doesn’t even want to talk about change — at least when
it comes to Narnia.

“I’ve produced a lot of movies based on books,” he said,
speaking at a New York press event with other Narnia filmmakers. Citing titles
from The Natural to The Notebook, Johnson said, “We made big changes in all of
those in order to adapt them to film. It’s clear with The Chronicles of Narnia
that you just can’t tamper with them that way. They’re too important to too
many people. They are in many ways written almost filmicly. I think the themes
and just the world of Narnia — you tamper with it, you make changes at your own
risk.”

Is this spin? Well, yes. The fact is both films “tamper”
with the books — Prince Caspian even more than the first film, in part because
Caspian the book isn’t as “filmic” as its predecessor.

“The story is much more difficult to put in a film,” Gresham
acknowledged. “But I do think we’ve made a better movie.”

As in the past, the filmmakers seem uncomfortable discussing
one important dimension of the Narnia stories: their religious themes and
underpinnings. “Obviously, you know, these stories have a lot of stuff about
having faith in something bigger than yourself,” Barnes conceded.

Actor William Moseley, who portrays Peter in the films,
likewise acknowledged that “there’s this thing about faith. I’m not trying to
use the Christian allegory. But it’s really a big part of the story.”

Most open about his reservations in discussing Narnia’s
religious significance was Peter Dinklage, who plays the skeptical Trumpkin. A self-described
“lapsed Catholic,” Dinklage suggested that doubt rather than belief is in
greater need today.

“I think it’s healthy to be skeptical,” Dinklage said. “I
was raised going to Catholic church every Sunday, and I haven’t been in a long
time. … I think at least in this country it’s been really stretched to limits
that I disagree with, and that’s why my wall goes up a little bit in talking of
this movie in terms of faith and Christianity, because I think that sort of
labels it and I think it goes beyond that. Even atheists have a certain
spiritual side.”

What about Aslan, the omnipotent lion who represents Christ
in Lewis’s fantasy world?

Gresham insisted that the movie gets Aslan right.

Lewis would “probably be most pleased with our portrayal of
Aslan,” Gresham said. “I think one of the things he always feared about Aslan
in film or Aslan on television was that he would be some sort of cartoon, comic
figure. And we’ve avoided that like the plague. We’ve produced an Aslan that
has huge majesty and dignity and a great warmth of character. Yet at the same
time he’s ‘not a tame lion.’ I think Jack would have appreciated that
enormously.”

Yet the film makes slight edits in Aslan’s dialogue that
subtly un-divinize him. For instance, Lewis has a seemingly larger Aslan tell
Lucy, “I have not [grown]. … Every year you grow, you will find me bigger.” In
the film, the line is simply, “Every year you grow, so shall I.” (See my review
for more.)

Noting that Aslan assumes various shapes and sizes
throughout the series, Gresham mused, “I never really considered his size as really
of very much importance. … I think you’re probably digging a little too deep
and discovering gems that probably aren’t there.”

A far more serious revision, the omission of Trumpkin’s
disbelief in Aslan’s existence, was also downplayed by Gresham. “Whether
[Trumpkin] believes that [Aslan] ever existed at all or not I don’t think is
important one way or the other. It’s just that he doesn’t really have any
credence that this is going to help.”

According to Johnson, “Right now we have no plans to go
beyond The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” currently set for a 2010 release.
“There are seven books, and luckily, with your support, if these films continue
to do well artistically and commercially, we will keep making them. … I’d like
to definitely do The Silver Chair after that.”

That may require Dawn Treader to be considerably more
artistically successful than Caspian. In the Narnia canon, Caspian is a
relatively minor work, but Dawn Treader is one of the major favorites. A
disappointing Caspian might not ruin the franchise, but a disappointing Dawn
Treader probably would. If Dawn Treader shows no more sensitivity than Caspian
to Lewis’s themes and ideas, many Lewis fans may give up on the series for
good.

The good news is that two-time director Andrew Adamson and
his screenwriting team are moving on, leaving Dawn Treader in
the hands of director Michael Apted and screenwriter Steven Knight, who
previously collaborated on Walden’s Amazing Grace.

Apted and Knight might take the series in a bold new
direction — or they might continue the course charted by Adamson and
company.

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